Chapter Five – Thieves and Amphibians.

 We entered the lift again and went to grate the mud off our shoes before realising that there was none and laughing.
                Five minutes later, we were outside another black door. This one said ‘Thusa’ and was reinforced with steel. Thoughts of something trying to break out crossed my mind. But then, why would you want to be stuck inside with it?

                Mr Berry knocked. I awoke from my thoughts with a start.

                A peep-hole opened.

                ‘Yes?’ came an inquiring voice.

                ‘We would like to have a look at your wares, please, Mr Fallows.’

                The door opened.

                In the doorway stood a man in his thirties. He was tall and thin – but muscular, from what could be seen from his clothing. He had a long, brown beard, reaching his knees. His eyes were brown and wrinkles had started to appear around them.

                ‘Come in, come in!’ he boomed, cheerfully.

                He waved us inside and I instantly noticed tanks and cages of various shapes and sizes, holding many creatures, on top of each other. Towers of them leaned against the black walls. Mounds of them were precariously placed in areas of the room. This seemed a disorganised mess, except that there were some shelves, with many varieties of colourful exotic birds, lining the walls. I was glad to see that each creature had a suitable looking habitat with plenty of food and water; they were well treated, in my opinion – except for the stacking - but that didn’t really affect them, from what I could see.

                Something seemed amiss though. I expected there to be lots of noise; squawks, hisses, slithering sounds, crunches – all sorts – but there was nothing to be heard; the creatures themselves seemed incredibly quiet. Perhaps most of them were sleeping (of course, I found out the real reason later).

                Tarantulas, goldfish, scorpions, snakes, lizards, turtles, tortoises, parrots, flamingos, parakeets, budgies and many others adorned the shelves in tanks and cages. I even thought I saw a koala, lurking on a eucalyptus tree in a dark corner of the room.

                Even with this clutter, there were still clear pathways, leading to several doors to other rooms; some of these doors were also large and reinforced.

I suddenly noticed someone else there. A girl, about my age, with long blonde hair and green eyes. She wore a black pinafore dress with a thin, white belt and blue jeans.

                My heart skipped a beat when I saw her.

                She ignored us and continued looking at a snake tank.

                I made my way towards her as Mr Berry talked to Mr Fallows.

                ‘I don’t normally like snakes, but this one seems nice.’ she said, without turning around.

                ‘Well, that’s understandable – we should avoid snakes really.’ I said, trying to sound confident.

                ‘Why?!’ she yelled suddenly, stomping her foot. ‘Why should we avoid them just because of what that one snake did so long ago?!’

                I was startled but I felt brave. ‘Well, snakes are crafty, and –if nothing else – poisonous, some of them.’

                ‘Well I like this one.’ she said, now turning back to the tank more intently and gazing at a curled up snake.

                The tank said ‘Rattlesnake’ on a white label stuck to it.

                ‘Say,’ she said, slowly, ‘you wouldn’t tell on me if I took this would you?’

                ‘No.’ I said, deliberately, glaring in sudden anger at her. ‘But you won’t take it, will you?’

                She reached forward to remove the tank from the shelf and open it, ignoring me completely.

                ‘No.’ I said, sternly.

                At this point I held her hands behind her back.

                ‘Huh?!’ she gasped. ‘Get off me.’

                She was glaring at me and seething through the tank’s reflection.

                ‘Don’t. You’ll get in trouble.’ I said, making sure not to let go. By this point she had lost all her charm to me.

                ‘WAIT!’ yelled Mr Fallows who charged over. We both jumped, startled.

                ‘I haven’t operated on this one yet – it still has its venom glands!’

                I let go of the girl as soon as he arrived and she stormed out, seething.

                ‘Thanks,’ said Mr Fallows, relieved. ‘You were holding her back from making a deadly mistake.’

                ‘I-‘

                ‘It doesn’t matter whether you knew or not. You don’t need to explain.’ he said, kindly.

                ‘So,’ said Mr Berry, ‘do you know which pet you want yet?’

                ‘Um, no, not really. Is this all of them?’ I asked, gazing around.

                ‘No, there are many more stored through the various doors lining this room.’ said Mr Fallows. ‘Well, first of all, which type of animal did you have in mind? Reptile, amphibian, mammal, fish, insect or bird?’

                ‘Uh, reptile, please.’ I said, hesitantly.

                After a few minutes of being in the reptile room, however, I changed my mind.

                Inside, the walls were lined with all kinds of tanks for all kinds of reptiles.

                There were many sizes of turtles and tortoises which strode slowly and regally past large lettuce leaves or swam slowly in groups, as if gliding, many colours and sizes of snakes who were again, unusually quiet, though slithering from time to time and lizards who hid in caves or lay on rocks – sometimes moving off to hunt for insects. Few of these I recognised and I seemed to have lost any enthusiasm I had.

                So I decided to visit the amphibian room, which was only next door. I noticed that the plaque on this door read ‘Nostox’ as I entered and I still could not make the link between name and contents.

                The inside did not look much different from the room of reptiles – except that the tanks more commonly contained water.

                Toads and frogs croaked in various colours, newts and salamanders wriggled and swam in water or lay on islands and things looking like worms wriggled in some tanks. There were plenty of other amphibians that I could not identify.

                I gazed around for a while, looking at each amphibian in turn until I finally found what I was looking for.

                In a tank, in the middle of the room was a black newt. I glimpsed a fire-patterned belly on the underside, as it swam along in wriggles and glides. I gazed at it for a while, mesmerized by its quirky form and brilliant colour.

                ‘Wow!’ I said, finally.

                ‘What’s this, Mr Fallows?’ I asked, pointing at it and staring in his direction. My mind was still on the newt.

                ‘A fire-bellied newt.’ said Mr Fallows. ‘Do you like it?’

                ‘Definitely.’

                Mr Berry stepped forward to pay, looking relieved.

                ‘No, no. It’s free, my friend – after all, you stopped one of my customers from being bitten.’ said Mr Fallows, insistently.

                ‘Yeah, but she wasn’t a customer, was she?’ I muttered, darkly, under my breath.             

                Mr Berry looked grateful. ‘Thank you very much Mr Fallows. If you just send it ahead of us to my school – you know the address, then I’ll have somebody take care of it.

                We left soon after and proceeded to the elevator again, this time going to the top-most floor.

                ‘So what’s on the top floor?’ I asked, curiously.

                ‘You’ll see.’ said Mr Berry. ‘Have you got everything?’

                ‘Let’s see: books, clothes, first-aid kit – that’s all isn’t there?’

                ‘Indeed, are you hungry?’ he asked, as his stomach rumbled.

                I nodded as we proceeded towards a door that said: ‘Rutondo’s’.

                It turned out to be an Ifaiain Restaurant. We sat down at a wooden table and waited to be served.

                As I gazed around the room, I noticed small, round glass windows in the ceiling which was far more slanted than any room I had been in before. The glass seemed thick but able to be opened still. The floor was made of oak and was covered by a large, red carpet. It reminded me of the one in the elevator – only this one was much thicker and the whole room seemed far more welcoming. A palm tree sat in a corner of the room, next to a table with two men sitting at it. There were about a dozen wooden tables, much like ours but varying in shape and size – some were circular, some were hexagonal, some triangular and some, including our table, were rectangular. On the tables, were small lamps in various different shapes and sizes – our table had two small, egg-shaped lamps set in a small block of stone. The yellow walls of the restaurant reached high to meet the ceiling. Overall, the room was pleasant and enjoyable to eat in.

                I proceeded to look at the menu.

                ‘Wow.’ I said. ‘Expensive, and I can’t even pronounce half of these – are you sure you’re ok with paying?’

                I was concerned, as my opinion of this man had greatly increased – I did not want him paying for everything.

                ‘Do not worry, you can pay for a meal when you are older and you have a job.’ said Mr Berry, smiling.

                ‘Thanks, I guess. But you’re not doing this out of pity or anything? I don’t need your help.’ I said with a sniff. ‘But I am grateful for it.’

                ‘You’d be surprised how little we think we need.’ he said.

                ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ I asked, partly curious, partly suspicious.

                ‘Well, just that our heavenly Father knows all that we need, even if we don’t – quite often He provides us with stuff, we didn’t even think we needed – only to find out later that we did.’ he explained.

                ‘Yeah, I suppose that’s true.’ I said, thoughtfully.

                The waiter arrived, seeming slightly harassed but poised to take our orders. I settled on a vegetarian pizza – unable to decide whether I would like anything else, whilst Mr Berry chose quite a fancy dish that I could not pronounce the name of.

                ‘So,’ I said, ‘are there any questions you can answer for me?’

                I expected him to say ‘no’ but was eager to ask anyway.

                ‘Well,’ he said, with a sigh of almost resignation, ‘what would you have me tell you?’

                My heart skipped a beat and I must have seemed excited due to the announcement of his next statement.

                ‘You can ask, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to tell you. It’s for –‘

                ‘My own good,’ I said, interrupting. ‘I know, I know.’

                I took a moment to think of a good question.

                ‘Okay, how about…transport! – Uh, how am I getting to the school?’

                ‘Can’t tell you that.’

                ‘Aww, why?’ I asked, incredulously.

                ‘Because if something went wrong then that could be valuable information to our enemies – they’ll know how to target us.’

                ‘Fine,’ I said with a sigh, ‘How about the name of the school?’

                ‘Sorry, can’t say that either.’ he said, sighing.

                ‘Why?’

                ‘Because if the students know the name of the school at the beginning of the first year, then they may blurt it out accidently. Then, of course somebody could hear that and follow the student to the school – by whatever form of transport they take.’

                I sat there, mouth gaping.

                ‘Wow! You really think these things out don’t you?’ I said, amazed.

                ‘Yes. I have to.’ he replied with a smile.

                ‘Why?’

                ‘Because I’m head teacher – and as such, I’m charged with the secrecy of the school, amongst things.’

                ‘Okay, just be careful it doesn’t turn into paranoia and fear.’ I said, in what I thought passed as sagely.

                The waiter was back again with our food.

                ‘I have your food!’ he said with a smile – he was looking less harassed for some reason. ‘You get it free!’

                It was at this point that I realised his strong, Ifaiain accent. I was too busy staring at my menu last time to even realise that he was Ifaiain – feeling pressured to order quickly.

                ‘Thank you!’ said Mr Berry, beaming with astonishment and looking relieved. ‘Why so?’

                ‘Because the Manager say it so!’ said the waiter, beaming back.

                ‘Well, thank you very much. It is much appreciated.’ said Mr Berry as the waiter shuffled off to serve others. ‘Wow, that’s a blessing! Let’s thank God.’

                He turned to me at this last part and we bowed our heads.

                ‘Thank you for this food, Lord, continue the provision, please, in Jesus’ name. Amen.’

                Once I’d said ‘Amen’ I raised my head, as a question came to me: ‘If somebody thanked Him in their head, in the same way, would it mean the same?’

                ‘Yes, of course, my dear boy!’ said Mr Berry, beaming. ‘In fact, either way is fine, Jesus even said that when you pray, you should go into your room and pray to the Father who hears you –wherever you are. He also says not to make long, loud prayers in front of lots of people – referring to Pharisees who made a habit of such things – to be applauded and favoured by men, rather than by God. Not that praying aloud is a bad thing necessarily – it depends on the motive, really. I mean, it has the benefit of witnessing to non-Christians and encouraging Christians at times. Yes, it is the motive that is most important.’

                I got momentarily distracted by the two men in the corner who seemed to be whispering animatedly and prodding at their newspaper repeatedly - I was sure I heard one of them say the word ‘mage’. But then I realised that Mr Berry was still talking and I returned my attention to him.

                ‘Oh good, because I don’t often feel bold enough to pray aloud.’ I confessed.

                ‘Don’t worry about it – pray about it. These things can take time – they did for me too. Pray for an emboldening, anointing and baptism of the Holy Spirit, if you haven’t had it already. Then the Holy Spirit can bring you His gifts more freely and you will be empowered to do bigger and better things – depending on God’s will for your life. Even if you have already been baptised in the Holy Spirit, you can – and should – ask to be filled again and again and for God to just have His way – whatever it is – and always remember to pray in Jesus’ name.’

                ‘How do you know so much?’ I asked, bewildered, having actually paid attention this time.

                ‘It’s from God – in fact it’s in His Word, or Bible, as we call it nowadays. All good things come from God and He can turn all things for good.’ he said with a smile.

                But now one of the men had got up to leave, leaving the other behind to finish his coffee. I made a mental note to check the newspaper if he left before us and I had the opportunity.

                ‘So, how did you become a Christian?’ I asked, returning my attention to Mr Berry.

                ‘Um, well that’s a story for another time, I’m afraid – we don’t want to keep Mr Drale waiting and I’m sure you have more pressing questions?’

                ‘Okay,’ I said, wondering why he didn’t tell me. ‘how about…where is my fire bellied newt going to live at the school?’

                ‘In water.’ he said, simply.

                ‘Care to elaborate?’ I asked, nodding in confusion.

                ‘Can’t I’m afraid, dear boy – pinpoints the location of the school.’

                ‘Oh, okay. I can’t think of any more for the moment – I’ll let you know if I do.’

                The truth was that I probably had plenty more questions but anything that could be linked to my parents’ killers was far more important to me.

                ‘I’m sure you will!’ he said, chuckling.

                We finished our meal soon after, thanked the waiter, telling him to send on our appreciation to the manager and kitchen staff, and left the restaurant. I tried to catch a glimpse of the newspaper in the process, but the man was still sitting at the table, reading ardently and I could not think of a suitable excuse for peering over his shoulder, if I were to get caught. However, I did recognise it as the Mourntag Times, by its black and blue striped border and made a note to check it another time.

                When outside, we proceeded to a door that I had not yet seen on any of the floors we had been on: ‘Exeunt’. It led out of the building to a long corridor. The door was yellow this time and the corridor walls and ceiling were mere rock face. We followed the corridor for a while through a labyrinth which, only Mr Berry seemed to know the way. I was convinced that he must have memorised it. I thought it important to try: left, right, right, right, left…I lost track. It was no use.

                ‘Do you have a map that you have memorised?’ I asked, frustrated.

                ‘No. You learn by experience. Trial and error.’ he said, simply as he focussed on following the path in his mind.

                ‘Really?! How many times have you got lost in here?’

                ‘Oh, more than I can count – don’t worry though, after a while, they send down food, etcetera and can help you get back out. They even have spare rooms for those still trying to figure out the maze. Best thing to do is to pray about finding the correct path straight away and, in God’s timing, either they will feel enabled to tell you the way through or you will find your way through.’

                ‘Can’t they just go back up the hole they came down?’

                ‘No, they close down after a few minutes and need re-opening – it’s what you mean by what you say that matters when you command something in Jesus’ name – for example: Peter told somebody who couldn’t walk, to walk in Jesus’ name and helped him up and he could. He didn’t suddenly fall down after a while because Peter meant for it to be a permanent change. Whereas, something like the weather will change after a while of you telling it to be calm – because that is what you expect – I do not think that anybody could use their miraculous powers to change something not linked with a human being permanently. But the laws of it all are all in God’s hands – if He doesn’t want it so; then it won’t be.’

                I tried to pay attention, but we just passed the first man to leave the restaurant. He was talking to a member of security who shook his head.

                ‘Oh right, so nobody could make a mistake in what they command in Jesus’ name?’ I asked, as we passed a flickering light.

                ‘Maintenance should be on that soon.’ he said, referring to the light. ‘Um, no, they couldn’t. But they have to make sure that it is commanded in Jesus’ name – otherwise it won’t and it may actually become a dangerous situation, for example: there was a time in the Bible when a group of Jews commanded demons out of a person, attempting to copy Jesus but it didn’t work because they didn’t do it in Jesus’ name – or perhaps they didn’t know Him as their Lord and Saviour – maybe that was the problem. Either way, if we love Him and accept Him as our Lord and Saviour – and command the act in Jesus’ name then it should happen if you are led by the Holy Spirit to do so. Praying for God’s anointing beforehand is a good idea too – and we need to believe that it’ll actually happen. After that, it’s all down to God’s decision – although I suppose that you would not be led by the Spirit if God didn’t want it doing.’       ‘Wow, there’s so much to remember.’ I said, but now noticing that the suspicious man had run past us and seemed to either know where he was going, or simply got frustrated at not knowing and tried to eliminate options.

                ‘Well, I may have got some things wrong but this is what I believe to be true – the technicalities and theology can be difficult to get right. I’m sure there are many things that I don’t know but God does and He may reveal them to me in time – or perhaps some of them, anyway. The point is, all I should do is pass on the information that I’ve read and found to be true and live right – submitting to the Lord’s will. It seems to work. Although, make sure that you find these things out for yourself – pray about it and read the Bible so you do not rely on other’s words for knowledge – rely only on God.’   

                At this point we’d reached steps that led downwards in a spiral for what felt like at least half an hour. At the bottom of these steps was an escalator going upwards for what must have been a mile – with a set of stone steps alongside it.

                ‘I’d hate to be stuck down here when the elevator’s not working.’ I said, wondering if I’d see the suspicious man again but deciding that we had left him behind somehow.

                ‘Indeed,’ said Mr Berry, chuckling.  

                After the elevator came what looked like a massive underground garden with many pathways.

                There were many trees dotted about, amongst the bushes of varying colours and types – elm, oak, eucalyptus, rowan, beech, hazelnut and chestnut were just a few that I could recognise. Light streamed through small rabbit holes with mirrors that reflected it down into the cave – so that hikers above didn’t see the cave – or so I was told. Beside these holes were lights that came on automatically because of sensors.

                ‘What happens if building work goes on above or excavations are done or people find the mirrors and move them?’ I asked, scrutinising the secrecy of the place.

                ‘Well, the land above is partly mountainous and partly set aside for wildlife conservation so such things are unlikely. As for the mirrors – they just get replaced whilst the lights come on down here.’

                ‘Hmm, ok. You’ve defeated me.’ I said with a smile.

                It had become a game to question the place and poke holes in the security and secrecy, but it had become far too advanced for my thinking.

                ‘Yup, this place is pretty much impossible to burgle too – because sensors go off at the doorways out – although sometimes security let them know that they are caught but decide to be merciful and let them have it if it is something that they really need – they may even give them something else out of charity. It rarely happens that a Christian really needs the stolen object though – since when have you seen those who have enough faith to open the ground without tools go without food, water or clothing? It’d have to be a moment of the flesh and lack of faith, I’d imagine.’

                ‘What’s a moment of the flesh?’ I asked, confused as we passed a rosebush and reached another elevator. ‘Why are we the only ones here, by the way? I’d have thought that there would be more about.’

                ‘Well, the flesh is another term for the sinful nature – the nature we have before God changes us to remove the bad parts. I have never met a person who has totally had their sinful nature removed – they are still susceptible to sin from time to time. Only Jesus was sin free – not that there wasn’t temptation – but He copied His – and our – Father and was led by the Holy Spirit – as we should be – so I guess that means that He never really had a sinful nature? Although, like I said, I don’t know the technicalities for sure – just that He never sinned – that’s the bit that counts. Therefore, since He never sinned, he never had a moment of the flesh – where we let our worries, doubt, temptation and so on, get in the way and lead us into sin. And what was the other question, sorry?’

                ‘Uh…I’ve forgotten – it’s not important anyway. Oh, well I guess that it makes sense – ‘the flesh’ being ‘the sinful nature’.’ I said, as Mr Berry jabbed the button for the lift doors to open.

                The elevator was about half the size of the one in the lobby but the layout was the same. There was no cleaner in this one though.

                ‘Why don’t you have to jab a button for the lift to come down?’

                ‘Because there is only one floor that it goes to – the sensors tell when the lift is empty and returns down here soon after.’

                We got in the lift and I realised that there was only one button, replicated twice.

                ‘Why is there only one button pointing up? What if you want to go down?’

                ‘The lift doesn’t go down – there is only one way into this place.’ he said. ‘Well, I say one – there are many but they are all dotted about and they can’t be used as exits – unless of course, God allowed it – but He led the design of this place, according to Mr Crupeley, the manager of the time. The glass doors that we went through into ‘Resource Rock’ only let people in – unless, I guess if people try to go out with all of their stuff whilst others are coming in – but that can be quite difficult and you would have to open the rabbit holes up again or something unusual.’

                ‘Ha! Imagine trying to fit a load of shopping through a rabbit hole!’

                ‘Exactly – although perhaps we are thinking small – they could open up a massive slope in the hillside and carry their stuff out. But it’d be such a big fuss – I don’t see why people would bother.’

                The elevator was moving quite slowly. This was probably because it expected us to have more shopping than we did. It took at least half an hour, in my mind.

                The reason I couldn’t be sure of the amount of time that passed was because I didn’t have my own watch. Gran always said that they encouraged people to rush about, causing stress and panic – and they never got you to a place any faster than being without one. She reasoned that all this stress and panic was unnecessary because it seemed to her that Jesus never rushed around in the books of the gospels – or at least not for the sake of getting somewhere in time. In fact - she stressed this point often – Jesus even let a man die whilst taking so long to get to where he was – He arrived three days later! I reasoned that even if He had run, the amount of distance may have been too great to get done much faster, anyway. Although she did say that He could have been taken away in the Holy Spirit – like the time when He was taken to the desert – although the Bible says ‘led’ she reasoned that that could have meant something similar to teleport. I supposed that either way, Jesus could have gotten there straight away if He wanted to, but He didn’t. Gran said that this was to do with the fact that He wanted people to know that He could raise the dead – it was for their benefit, not His. I guess the point is that it is never too late to sort a bad situation out, with God on your side.

                Although she did say that it wasn’t a sin in itself to have a watch – the sin is not trusting God, and a watch could encourage that.

                I wasn’t happy with the response at the time – and I was often late for lessons – but then so were some of my friends who had watches. But, being in the lift then; having seen Mr Berry’s haste and watch checking did bring me to the realisation that it actually did help. I felt far more relaxed than Mr Berry seemed to be, who at this moment was fidgeting impatiently next to me.

                I supposed that the only reason he had not insisted on a run through the passages earlier, was that he needed to concentrate and save his energy – focussing on not getting lost – besides the fact that I seemed quite burdened down with the shopping half of the time. The other half of the time he carried it for me – it can’t have seemed much to him as he seemed to take it in his stride.

                The doors opened and Mr Berry straightened up. I was eager to see what was next on this journey.

                A yellow wall stood in front of us, shielding us from view of any who were outside. Mr Berry walked out and turned right, passing between lift and wall. I followed and he turned straight ahead into what seemed to be a car park. Just a dull car park. I was half disappointed, half expecting more.

                I saw the car we had started this journey in, parked in a bay, not far from us.

                Mr Drale was asleep. He lay back on the headrest, mouth open wide.

                ‘Uh, what do we do now?’ I asked, not wanting to wake Mr Drale up, but wanting to get home at the same time.

                Mr Berry didn’t answer, but went straight over to the window nearest Mr Drale and tapped twice. Mr Drale jerked awake instantly, closed and wiped his mouth and started the engine. Then he got out of the car – still weary from being woken so suddenly and opened a passenger door. Mr Berry got in; Mr Drale took the shopping from me and put it in the boot.

                ‘Evening.’ he said, as he took the shopping bags from me.

                ‘Good Evening!’ I said, as polite as possible – I felt bad for having had him woken up but felt too awkward to mention it.

                Mr Drale opened the door and I got in, muttering ‘thanks’.

                I slept on the journey, once I’d noticed that we were in a city, and woke up what seemed like twenty minutes later.

                We were parked outside my Gran’s house.

                ‘’Night and thanks!’ I yawned as I opened the garden gate and walked up the path.

                ‘Goodnight, Gareth.’ said Mr Berry, quieter than me but loud enough for me to hear. ‘I’ll send a reminder of the details soon.’

                ‘Cool.’ I said, yawning and unconcerned as I let myself into the house.

                It felt late. Very late. I looked at the clock – it was only nine! But I was tired so I went straight into my room and flopped on the bed and drifted off straight away. The bags of shopping fell to the floor lazily with a dull ‘clunk’.